Is there any test you can take to tell whether you can have babies?
I'm 25 years old, and NOT looking to get pregnant in the near future. I've been on the pill since I was 19, continuously (ortho tri cyclen).
Anyway, I'm terribly afraid that i CAN'T get pregant. Sometimes, I'm downright bad about taking the pill. I've never had to throw out a pack and start over, but I've regularly had to take two pills in one day. Today, I just started bleeding in the middle of my cycle. I've had a boyfriend for the past year and a half and we have unprotected sex regularly. I've never even once been late.
Before I was on the pill, i got my period horribly irregularly. I'm freaked out I can't have kids. I've seen commercials for ovulation tests--i guess you can take it like a pregnancy test and it will tell you whether you're ovulating.
i know a lot of women spend a lot of time and money going to doctors to tell them whether they can have children. i'm curious--do those ovulation tests tell whether your eggs are viable? or do they just tell whether your body is in the right condition for ovulation?
also, has anyone experienced what i have (long-term use of the pill, frequent unprotected sex, and being bad about taking the pill)? have you gotten pregnant or not?
maybe i'm jumping the gun, since i just broke up with my BF and don't anticipating have kids for 4 or 5 years at the VERY least, but it's been on my mind nonetheless...........
I started taking the pill when I was 18, I frequently missed my periods by taking two or more packs in a row and quite often had to take 2 pills in a day due to missing the one the day before lol. At 25 I had to come off the pill for 3 months due to mid cycle bleeding and very long periods which I've never had a problem with before... anyways I never made it 3 months lol... 6 weeks later I was pregnant!
The ovulation tests (kits and monitors) are ovulation predictors and probably also indicate if you have actually ovulated. ( - website removed - ) The luteinizing hormone is always present in your urine and increases 24-48 hours prior to ovulation. The LH surge triggers ovulation, which is the release of an egg from one of your ovaries. Ovulation is the most fertile time of your cycle."
If you are worried you are not ovulating, you can either use these kits, or do daily assessments of your waking temperature, the consistency of your cervical fluid, and the position and texture of your cervix. There are charts you can use for the latter 3 techniques. I HIGHLY recommend the book, "Taking charge of your fertility" which has charts and instructions for this. It explains how to tell when you are ovulating, but more importantly, when/whether you are fertile (able to conceive) and when you're not. This helps you to know when to avoid sex if you are not looking to get pregnant (and not using other reliable protection).. or when TO have sex, if you do want to get pregnant. After reading the book, I couldn't believe they didn't teach this basic stuff in our Jr. High and High School health classes! This book should be required reading for all women! ( - website removed - ) However, those kits and monitors can get expensive, while the other techniques are free.
It could be that even if you are "bad" about taking your pills as you say, you're missing doses at times of the month that don't allow your body to ovulate.
However: even if you are ovulating, there's really no way to tell if you may have other health issues that would prevent you from being able to become pregnant or carry a child to term. Maybe you have blocked fallopian tubes, so even though you're ovulating, the egg is not making it to the fallopian tubes and thus can't be fertilized by the sperm. Or maybe there is a chemical imbalance in your uterus that does not allow an egg to implant or grow. There are probably a bunch of other issues that could prevent pregnancy, not related to ovulation per se. Some of these issues could be diagnosed by a gynecologist in a routine or follow-up exam, but others take more sophisticated analysis by a gynecologist or fertility specialist.
Also, if you are concerned that after all the unprotected sex you are not pregnant, it could be that your ex-boyfriend's sperm count is low or the sperm are not able to fertilize the egg for some reason. A male-fertility specialist would have to look into this to determine the reason.
Last edited by moderator2; 06-23-2005 at 07:51 PM.
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Belledin - I started taking the Pill when I was 16 (I'm 30 now) and was often bad about missing pills - did the morning-after thing a few times in my teenage years, 'just to be safe'. Also had unprotected sex many more times that I ever should have (pregnancy aside, the whole STD thing is scary) - but I never got pregnant, and never really had a true pregnancy 'scare'. When I went off the Pill for the first time last May (2004), I didn't get a period until July, and they were irregular for the following 3 months (30 day, 32 day, 34 day cycle - seemed to keep increasing each month - but I had no idea what my 'normal' cycle was, since I'd been on the Pill for so long). BUT, then I found out I was pregnant in early November, and the math says it happened sometime in early October. So, don't underestimate your body - even if you think you can't get preg, unless you know for sure you have a fertility issue, better to play it safe if you definitely don't want kids!
Thanks for your responses! No, i'm not looking to fool around with it or get pregnant (AT ALL!!) (in my newly-single status I couldn't if i wanted to!!), just looking for some reassurance. I'm so glad that people who've been on the pill for an extended period of time seem to still be able to conceive--there's so much mythology out there--my mom is insisting i get off of the pill before it "screws everything up"--you know!
